Michigan - Douglas Childhood Appreciation Tour - Oct 2013

John and JoAnna at John's Childhood Home - Howell

This was the second of our childhood appreciation tours, going to Howell, Michigan to see where John became the man that he is today!  The first trip was to Philly last year to see where JoAnna grew up.

Keith and Shawna arrived on Thursday evening and stayed at a Hyatt Place in Wyoming, Michigan, about 20 minutes from the Grand Rapids Airport.  On Friday, Keith went to one of Aimco's properties to do some work while Shawna worked from the hotel room.  John and JoAnna were able to get an earlier connecting flight so Shawna went to pick them up in the styling, white mini-van that we rented and then picked up Keith at the property to kick off the weekend festivities.

Dawn, Fernando, JoAnna, John and Keith - John's Elementary School

We started out by having a quick lunch on our way to Howell at Peppino's - an Italian sports bar.  Keith and Shawna split a salad and sandwich.  When we arrived in Howell, we first stopped at John's parents' house where he grew up.  They live in a nice, large ranch style house on a large property with a barn and garden in the back.  His family was not home yet so we grabbed a beer, toured the house and read John's diary from fourth grade - it was quite hilarious, especially the day he lost his tooth, didn't tell mom and the tooth fairy did not come!!  His family arrived and we briefly said our hellos before heading to the Holiday Inn to check-in.  Keith had to do a conference call so JoAnna and Shawna went to the outlet stores next door while John relaxed.

John's Middle School

We picked up John's sister, Dawn, and her boyfriend Fernando who were also in town for the weekend to celebrate her birthday.  We toured around Howell, visiting the elementary, middle and high schools that John attended, the lake where John learned to swim (and cried), and the downtown area (which is quite cute).  We also drove around searching for Melissa Gilbert's house who had recently moved to the area and was renting a green, Victorian home - the only problem is that there were four green homes on the street so we didn't figure out which was hers.

John's High School

Before meeting up with John's parents for dinner, we had a goblet of wine (the pour was quite generous) at Howell's Main Street Winery, where they make their own wine.  We all had dinner at Mr. B's Rustic Tavern where we shared some appetizers for the table and then Keith and Shawna shared the fajitas for an entree.  John's friend, Jim, also met us for dinner.  We ended the night with a few beers at Cleary's Pub where we learned that Keith had 'emceed' a Texas high school game when he was in high school - he didn't know any of the calls so he sat there all night not saying anything - one person even commented that he thought Keith's microphone was broken!

Howell's Main Street Winery

On Saturday, we had an early breakfast at John's parents' house - yummy eggs, biscuits and gravy.  Larry, another of John's friends, met us there with his fiancee.  We then drove over to Michigan State in Lansing to join Larry and several of their other friends to tailgate before the football game.  The weather was quite nasty but we stayed dry and warm drinking beer under a tent.  We did not go to the game but instead watched part of it at Dublin Square where we had burgers for lunch.

The Douglas Clan at Mr. B's Rustic Tavern

We returned to the hotel for a nap and more shopping and then went back to John's parents' house for a bonfire / birthday celebration for Dawn.  John's mom had surprised John by calling some of this friends from high school to come so John got to catch up and reminisce about old times.  We had a great time meeting his friends and his sister's friends, drinking beer and staying warm by the fire.  His mom also made some awesome chili and mac-n-cheese - perfect comfort food for the weather!

Michigan State Tailgate

We all had flights at noon so we got up on Sunday and packed up to drive back to Grand Rapids.  While it was a short trip, it was packed with activity and fun childhood memories!

Bonfire

NYC with Steph - October 2013

Leslie, Keith and Steph at Plunge Rooftop Bar

Six months earlier, Stephanie had called Keith and asked us to join her in New York if she won the annual sales contest at work.  Not surprisingly Steph did win, so we were in for a weekend with Stephanie and her sister Leslie.

We were both supposed to fly in the Thursday night but Keith was re-directed to the east coast earlier for work so he headed to NYC via Atlanta and DC, arriving on Friday afternoon.  Shawna kept her original itinerary and checked into the usual Hyatt Grand Central on points and worked out of the hotel on Friday.  Keith arrived at LaGuardia at 4pm and was able to get to the hotel by 5:30 - time for a quick shower and change before heading to the rooftop bar at the Peninsula Hotel, Salon de Ning.  Stephanie and her sister Leslie were already there and we were able to get a small table quickly.  While we had seen Leslie a few times over the years, it was the most time we had spent with both Steph and Leslie in a long time and we had a blast. 

Keith and Steph at Whiskey Park

 Following drinks we took a cab down to Sushi Samba on Barrow.  We had a lot of shared plates and more than a few cocktails.  We wrapped up the night at Whiskey Park where we had some drinks and Leslie regaled us with stories of her time at that bar in her younger days!  We walked back to the hotel - with Shawna in a bit of pain with some ill-fitting shoes - to the point where she walked home barefoot instead!

High Line

New World Trade Center

On Saturday morning, we decided to walk the High Line, a public park built on an old elevated and abandoned railway track.  It fully opened in June 2011 but we had never been there.  It is a really beautiful use of an old track - very well done.  It was jammed with people walking it, but amazing nonetheless.  We had a little snack at the food pavilion at Taco Truck - quite delicious.  We then kept walking south through Hudson River Park to the World Trade Center site, where the new tower is still being constructed.  We were thinking of going to the memorial but when we got to the ticket office there was a massive line - so we bagged it knowing we could come back in a couple of years when it is all complete.  It was a two hour walk by then, so we decided to take a cab back to the hotel.  Shawna jumped out of the cab a bit early to do some shoe shopping (so she was not in pain two nights in a row) while Keith went back to the hotel for a nap.

For cocktails this evening, we met at the Gansevoort Hotel rooftop bar, Plunge.  The roof has amazing views of the meatpacking district and the Hudson River.  We then walked over to Buddakan for dinner - which for the life us we just can't remember if we had been there before.  We had a delicious dinner of shared plates in a really cool atmosphere.  We stopped at one bar on the way home and then said goodbye to Steph and Leslie.

Keith and Shawna at Plunge Rooftop Bar

On Sunday, we did our traditional workout around the park, going the full perimeter - two hours total from the room.  We wrapped up the weekend at lunch with Carmen and Lew at Demarchelier, a French restaurant on the upper east side.  Carmen and Lew had just flown in from Richmond so it was terrific that they were able to see us quickly.

Carmen, Keith, Shawna and Lew at Demarchelier